Dawn Davis/Oregon State Parks
Night camping under the stars at Prineville Reservoir State Park
It s Oregon s first state park with that designation; Sunriver was first in the state
PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and the Oregon Chapter of the International Dark-Sky Association announced Friday that Prineville Reservoir State Park is now a certified International Dark Sky Park, making it the newest addition to the association s Dark Sky Places Program.
Prineville Reservoir is the first Oregon state park and the second place in Oregon to be honored with the designation. The other is also in Central Oregon, as the community of Sunriver was named an International Dark Sky Place last year.
May 7, 2021 GMT
PRINEVILLE, Ore. (AP) Prineville Reservoir State Park has been certified as an International Dark Sky Park and is the first Oregon park to make the list of the places around the world with the least nighttime light pollution.
The certification recognizes the exceptional quality of the park’s night skies as well as efforts to install environmentally responsible lighting and educate the public about light pollution.
Prineville Reservoir joins only 174 locations worldwide to have followed the rigorous application program.
The park’s location in central Oregon, which is booming in population, makes it more critical as a place to enjoy star-gazing without light pollution, according to the Dark-Sky Association. To compete for the designation, park staff had to replace harsh outdoor lights with soft yellow and red lighting to reduce skyglow, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department said in a statement.
Prineville Reservoir first Oregon park to get dark sky nod
May 7, 2021
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PRINEVILLE, Ore. (AP) Prineville Reservoir State Park has been certified as an International Dark Sky Park and is the first Oregon park to make the list of the places around the world with the least nighttime light pollution.
The certification recognizes the exceptional quality of the park’s night skies as well as efforts to install environmentally responsible lighting and educate the public about light pollution.
Prineville Reservoir joins only 174 locations worldwide to have followed the rigorous application program.
The park’s location in central Oregon, which is booming in population, makes it more critical as a place to enjoy star-gazing without light pollution, according to the Dark-Sky Association. To compete for the designation, park staff had to replace harsh outdoor lights with soft yellow and red lighting to reduce skyglow, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department sa
Prineville Reservoir certified as Oregon’s first ‘Dark Sky Park’
Updated May 07, 11:31 AM;
Posted May 07, 10:27 AM
Prineville Reservoir State Park is Oregon s first official Dark Sky Park, a place where light pollution is minimal and stargazing is choice. (Dawn Davis/Oregon State Parks)
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Oregon is home to plenty of dark skies – ideal places for stargazing and staring out into the cosmos – but we only now have our first official Dark Sky Park.
The International Dark-Sky Association announced Friday that Prineville Reservoir State Park has been certified as an official Dark Sky Park, one of 101 such parks in the world, and the first in Oregon.
During a July 2017 multi-day river trip on the Lower Deschutes River, around the Olive Grove Camp, a thick haze started rolling in. That was day two. By the time we reached the takeout on day three, the crew was choking on particulate matter. This was pre-COVID and we opted to wear then-rare masks. On the evening drive back home, wildfires were raging Mad-Max style along the highway. Although it made for a pretty sunset, the cost is not reflective of the beauty. Among the casualties: Thousands of acres of forests, weeks of no play for outdoor recreationalists and no revenues for any guiding or outdoor-based businesses.